My Funny Valentine
by Jordan J. Smith
Summary: Ok, working title ripped from Cowboy BeBop. My Continuation from the movie, more to come as it inspires me hopefully, but if it seems really close to someone else's let me know
1. Things are Fine

Helena sprawled on her bed in her caravan, drawing new streets for The City as the afternoon faded into evening. Her black & white socks were lovingly secured in their own kingdoms, and she hadn't felt the urge to act out the adventures of the Queens since that strange adventure. Valentine was hanging from his marionette strings, just beyond all the worries of the City.

Or so she hoped...

Valentine's tower was gliding through the sky, taking him about his very important business as it was willing to do again since his apology. Wisps of paper-grain clouds drifted by, tugging at its corners and the toes of the tower's foot. It sailed on, heedless of their grasping invitations to ride the wind.

Valentine himself was pacing aimlessly around the foyer, glancing out the window on occasion, and trying to convince himself that it would not, in fact, no matter how many times he looked at it, change into a view of a bedroom with a bed, a wardrobe, a moon mask, and a cuddly little sea anemone...

...No matter how much he wanted it to.

No one had consciously noticed the subtle differences in her drawings, even though she got to design the posters for the circus now. There were less sphinxes, for starters, and more and more of them seemed to focus on a spiky-haired fellow of jaunty disposition. He was often in different styles of hats, which she hoped he enjoyed, bu he was also alone, which she knew he could not.

She worried about drawing herself into pictures with him, because what if it created yet another Not-Helena? How many Helena's could one universe take before breaking? It was an answer she hoped never to find out. But there were times when it was tempting. For some reason, whenever she thought of Valentine now, he seemed to feel lonely.

She wanted to create an idealized version of herself, with a name with a bit of style and dignity, but she was terrible at making up a name for this possible alternate self.

And on the topic of alternates, Edward was quite the farthest name from her mind when she ran into real-life Valentine. She had to hesitate before saying his name every time. It had been about two weeks, and everything was still so vivid in her mind.

But she belonged here, with Mum and and Dad and the family circus. Her act had even improved a little... At least Mum didn't have to put on the ridiculous gorilla suit any more. Now it was Ed's job, and Helena laughed a bit more picturing Valentine in the suit, feeling a little guilty each time. It was obvious Ed liked her, and he had a shadow of Valentine's rakish charm. She warmed to him a little more each day, but something in the pit of her stomach kept reminding her of Valentine every time he chuckled, or moved his shoulders just right.

There was a slight desire to make him a mask like Valentine's, but she knew it wouldn't be right to him... Either of them really. There was only one thing to do.

Valentine was straightening overcoat, and adjusting one of the new hats that had taken to appearing in his tower. He could only assume she was drawing them for him, and it was both comforting and unnerving at the same time.

Because if she'd drawn and made everything, then it meant... And for a creator of that level... Or whatever she was... And it mean that he was really only...

It just about hurt his brain trying to wrap around the concept. But maybe he'd understand it later. Right now, Her Majesty wanted to reward him for his selfless aid in restoring balance to the world. It all sounded well and good, but it was obvious she had no idea what really went on out there.

He opened the door into the Queen's chamber, and stood stock still, at a loss for words.

Just before bed, she finally did it. Valentine was standing in big hat with a big feather, arm in arm with the Princess of Light. He was a very important man after all, he deserved someone else very important to be with. She felt a little jealous, even though she knew it didn't make sense. After all, Jade would be more like a representation of her real self in the MirrorWorld, wouldn't she? And if Valentine were happy with someone, wouldn't it mean she could be happy with someone else, too?

"Oh Mr. Valentine," the Queen started. "I don't how we can ever thank you enough for saving our city." She glowed with brilliance of goodness and truth, and her white hair shone down her back.

"Well, I am a very important man, you know." Even his usual response sounded muted and odd. He'd seen the Queen before... Once... on less than ideal terms. But there was a girl waiting here, and she looked like...

"Of course I know!" Her laugh was musical and sweet, and coming from anyone else would probably have sounded condescending. "Why else would I have given you that lovely tower, hm? Anyway, you simply must meet my daughter, Jade. She was beside herself with worry, and demanded to meet whoever woke me. For being a very important man, you can be difficult to get a hold of."

She smiled warmly, and he tried to listen as she spoke, but his eyes were fixed on Jade. It was a dream. Or a dream of a dream. Because as right as she looked at first glance, there was something... Off about her, and the longer he tried to act like he wasn't staring, the more apparent it became.

But before he could realize or protest, she was taking his arm and leading him around the palace grounds. Her hand was warm, and solid, and comforting... And painful. It felt wrong. But he listened to her talk, and hoped that soon Jade would help him forget anything strange had ever happened.

The weeks wore on at the circus, and they traveled across Scotland and Wales. Ed grew better at juggling each day, and they spent hours juggling together before the circus even opened. She was beginning to like Ed back, but there was always the question nagging at the back of her mind.

Would she like him so much if she hadn't met him before?

Valentine could feel things changing. Or perhaps, more accurately, staying the same, which was quite a change for the City. He hadn't even gotten a new hat in over a week, which he found bothered him quite a bit more than discovering the new hats from nowhere had.

And Jade was beginning to be a nuisance.

"Oh, Mr. Valentine, where shall we adventure to today?" She was almost insufferably cheerful, and honest, and trusting. He found that he needed to bite back more and more of his sarcastic comments for fear she would misunderstand. The first few misunderstandings were enough to teach him that he didn't want to do that again. Seeing a princess was not all it was made out to be.

"Please my lovely, call me 'Valentine'. I think we're well enough past formalities." That was another thing. 'Mr. Valentine', all day every day he saw her... Which worked out to be every day. She just huffed lightly at him. They'd already had that conversation before, so he went on. "I want to visit Giant's Orbiting today, my precious gemstone, and see if there aren't any more giants yet."

She wrinkled her nose in a disgusting display of those facial muscles she flaunted so carelessly. He could convince himself it was almost cute, if he tilted his head just right and squinted so he couldn't make out her clothes. The white hair was a bit distracting, but he knew it was only becasue she'd never be _her_.

"But doesn't that sound terribly depressing? Wouldn't you rather a hike through the hills again today?" She cuddled up to his arm, batting her eyelashes at him and pleading. It just about made him sick.

Helena would never plead like that. She demanded, and had no time for silliness like this. Of course, in retrospect, that could've just been because she was on an important questy-type thing, but he liked to think she was no nonsense like that all the time. "Depressing perhaps, but informative none the less. Besides, I doubt if anyone's been in there recently, and it is a part of your kingdom after all. As Princess and future Queen, I think it's important for you to be accurately up-to-date on as many areas of the city as you can." Logic. It was one of his favorite tools as of late. He never thought he'd be one for logic.

"Fine then, Giant's Orbiting it is." Jade sulked a bit, but it went against her nature and didn't last very long.

Valentine couldn't help but feel that she seemed flat. It wasn't a term he'd used on people before, but then again, he hadn't known they were all drawings before. It was dissatisfying all the way around. He could only think that she'd done this for him, making a new princess for him to be with... A shadow of herself to try to keep him happy where he was. And it wasn't working. She couldn't even juggle!

And for some reason she insisted on introduced him as 'Mr. Valentine, the jester'...

She was sulking again, and it suited her disposition just fine, so long as she kept away from her mother long enough to avoid that damned room. It was frustrating. The taste of freedom had only made coming home that much more unbearable, and there were never any boys in the kingdom. She'd discovered that she really fancied boys, and doing her own make-up, and those little skirts over those 'jeans' things that everybody wore.

There had to be another way out, didn't there?


	2. Open Communications

Valentine had a Schedule. The very thought made him shudder with disapproval. And not show times, no... At least that was a respectable reason to be on time and aware of the hour and all that business, but this!

A visit with the Princess every day, which soon turned into tagging along to meetings of state, which put him right back in the middle of all that stuff & nonsense between the Queens and that terrible Princess of Darkness, which is _exactly_ where he wanted to avoid being. The last thing he wanted was to be a hinge-y-type-thing in the workings of an evil plan.

There was a fairly crucial difference in being a very important man and being a very dead man.

Helena was annoyed by her continuing lack of dreams. All she got from sleeping was a hollow sense of foreboding and a strong desire to go back. Each time she woke, she'd raise a hand to her face and check for the MirrorMask, which wasn't there no matter how many times she touched her cheeks or forehead. It translated to a restless distraction that made everyone worry after her mood hadn't improved in a few months.

Ed was beginning to mope as well. He was smitten, and the longer he watched her warm up for just so long before withdrawing again, the worse it got. He loved talking with her, and he loved watching her when they juggled together. It was the only time she really looked like she was happy, and focused... and smiling at him. He didn't really want to admit it out loud, but that was his favorite part of their juggling. Her eyes were bright and clear, and her mouth was uncovered by the mask now, a change he'd been very glad of, and he loved to watch her being _happy_.

Most of the time, when she wasn't juggling with Ed, Helena would lock herself in her trailer and look at the way the city covered all the walls and the ceiling now. It had grown quite a bit at Aunt Nan's, but she couldn't well leave it there when the circus picked up again. Moving all those papers terrified her, but she willed it to be nothing more than a little earthquake and had to hope that worked.

She wanted to add or change things, but with the small space and the certainty that there were people with lives of their own down there she couldn't bring herself to do it any more. She hadn't even drawn Valentine in at least three weeks now, and she found that trying to keep him out of her mind only made her miss him more. So she sat and stared until she figured out a way to speak to the MirrorWorld.

Valentine had taken to sleeping naked lately. It was the only sure way to keep Jade out of his bedroom, and he wasn't above hopping out of the sheets if she tried to come in. In fact, that's just what he did when he heard a resonating '**thud**' inside his room.

"What's the big idea? Who's bothering me while I'm sleepin'?!" He huffed about for a bit before he realized that he was flapping in the breeze and grabbed his coat.

"It appeared out of nowhere, Mr. Valen-grump." The tower's voice was soft, and difficult to pin a gender to. It was a building after all, so it was probably neither, but Valentine thought of her as the ultimate house-wife.

"Oh, some help you are," he muttered as he noticed a huge, thick book on his table that he didn't recognize. The spine read 'Contacting Celestials: A Friendly Guide to Speaking with Deities'. He ripped the book open with such fierceness he was surprised it didn't try to fly off. It opened to a page which read:

_Valentine - Sorry about the title, as this is really my way of reaching you, but I need to know how things are. How you are, and whether things are going well and the like. Please follow the directions to get in touch with me. I'm looking forward to hearing from you soon._

_Helena_

The writing was looped and lovely cursive, and he ran his fingers along the lines a few times before moving on to the directions to answer her. It sounded simple enough, just write in the book on the pages that say Valentine...

Helena ran from the tent once the show was finished, beelining and dodging customers, vendors and performers alike as she tried to fly the ten yards to her caravan. She hadn't intended to, but she slammed the door as she went inside.

Ed stood back, perplexed as he helped with clean-up. He'd been watching Helena throughout the performance, and she seemed happy in her own little world tonight. It was refreshing, and confusing... Not to mention distracting! She looked even better when she smiled, and bit her lower lip just right. Now he just wondered what had made her so anxious.

Back in the caravan, Helena was staring at the large drawing of an open book that was taped over part of her window. It was her copy of the book on Valentine's table, and it worked because she thought it should. The two pages said 'Valentine' in her own looping cursive, but the rest of it had an interesting scrawl that could only be from him. It read:

**Helena - As if I cared about book titles anyway. Things seem fine for now, the Queens have their standing argument, but I feel as though a storm's brewin and I'm not sure why. I'm doing all right enough I suppose, but what's the big idea givin me a girlfriend?! Who's a Princess no less, who can't even juggle! Think you're some kinda wise guy knows what's best for everyone?**

**Don't get me wrong, she's nice and all, I like her in a way, but I was happy enough having my tower to myself.**

**Anyway, don't be a stranger.**

** Valentine (Entertainer, Manager, Juggler Extraordinaire)**

Helena ran her fingertips along his words, fascinated by the way they left no texture and didn't smear. It _had_ worked! But he wasn't very happy with the princess. Not that she could blame him... Ed was nice and all, too. There were just big looming 'buts' about Ed and Jade.

Don't be a stranger... But what could she really say back to that? 'I miss you' probably wouldn't go over well with Jade, and she wasn't sure if Valentine could take that kind of honesty. But banter escaped her at the moment, and all she could do was touch the paper with his words, and wonder if she'd ever be able to see him again.

Valentine had a bit of trouble writing out his message to Helena. He wasn't sure why, but he got the distinct feeling that the pages he saw were not the ones she'd drawn. His name was neatly at the top in her handwriting, true, but it was also written all over the page... at different angles, different sizes, styles, and sometimes even a little heart to dot the 'i'.

It took him the better part of the day to figure out exactly what he wanted to say, and then the rest of it figuring out what he was actually going to write to her. He wanted to say how much he missed her, how the world seemed dull and lifeless without her... How sorry he was for his part in the troubles and how much he wanted to make it up to her somehow.

But he couldn't. It wasn't right to send things like that out into the universe on paper, where anyone might find it and use it for harm. So he stayed in his comfort zone, playing everything off as cool as a cucumber and other things below room temperature. Maybe I'll be lucky, he thought to himself. Maybe she'll understand what I really mean.

No sooner had he watched the words melt away into the pages, off on their way to wherever Helena was the lucky sods, than there was a knock on the door. He looked down, flustered but in no mood to change any further, and gathered his coat more tightly around himself as that was all there was keeping him from indecently exposure-ing himself.

The knock was on his bedroom door, so he crossed the room and grinned. "Hallo Princess, how're you today my lovely jewel?"

He was greeted in return with a flat palm against his cheek, and he was suddenly looking at the far wall of his bedroom. He grabbed his jaw and gawked at her. "What in the hell'd I do to deserve a blow like that?!"

"You missed our date today, and no amount of messages have been able to catch your attention." She pointed angrily at the nearest window, the ledge for which was covered in fluttering, confused notes that knew they'd made it to where they were supposed to be, at least some part of it, though they had the sneaking suspicion they were supposed to be inside. He looked sheepishly from the window back to Jade, her face flush with anger and her eyes hard against his.

"Darlin, I'm so sorry... I've really got no excuse, I just lost track of time I suppose. If you never want to speak to me again, I understand. I'm nothin but a trouble-making jester, and if you'd rather be free of such a nuisance I can't say I'd blame you in the least." His tone was of the 'onward and upward' ilk, but there didn't seem to be any remorse in his voice, nor hint of his apology meaning he wanted a second chance.

Jade's stare bored into him for a few moments longer. But he was shocked and a little crestfallen when her face broke into that oh-so-familiar, and yet oh-so-different smile. He squinted and pictured her hair brown, and he could just about hear Helena whisper "butterfingers". But the moments passed and Jade spoke in Helena's pitch, but not tone nor inflection nor manner.

"You big silly, why should I want anyone other than you? After all, I'm the Princess, and you're the one who saved the City. Just try not to do it again, won't you?" Jade had that pleading thing going on again. There was only one thing he could do.

"Course not, my sweetness. Shall I meet you tomorrow then?"


End file.
